Twitter suspends Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene over inaccurate information regarding Covid-19

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

Twitter suspends Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene over inaccurate information regarding Covid-19

" THINK BEFORE YOU TWEET!"

By Edward Era Barbacena

Twitter said Monday that it had suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours.

The social media platform suspended the outspoken Georgia Republican around 9 p.m. on Monday for violating its policy after posting misleading two tweets about COVID-19.

In two tweets posted Sunday and Monday, Greene said that the coronavirus wasn't dangerous for people under the age of 65 who are not obese, and said vaccines should not be required. 

"We took enforcement action on the account @mtgreenee for violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically the COVID-19 misleading information policy," a Twitter spokesman said in an emailed statement. 

Greene's tweets still appear on her Twitter account but with a "misleading" tag. She will be able to return to the platform Tuesday morning.

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Twitter said Monday that it had suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours.

The social media platform suspended the outspoken Georgia Republican around 9 p.m. on Monday for violating its policy after posting misleading two tweets about COVID-19.

In two tweets posted Sunday and Monday, Greene said that the coronavirus wasn't dangerous for people under the age of 65 who are not obese, and said vaccines should not be required. 

"We took enforcement action on the account @mtgreenee for violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically the COVID-19 misleading information policy," a Twitter spokesman said in an emailed statement. 

Greene's tweets still appear on her Twitter account but with a "misleading" tag. She will be able to return to the platform Tuesday morning.

Greene's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday. 

The controversial lawmaker's tweets come as COVID-19 cases across the U.S. continue to climb as the delta variant is now accounting for more than half of the newest infections across the country. Last week, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data determined all 50 states reported more COVID-19 cases in the most recent seven-day period than in the week before – a 70% spike.

A little less than half of the U.S. population, 48.4%, is fully vaccinated, and a little more than half, 55.9%, has had at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

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Greene's suspension also comes after President Joe Biden criticized social media platforms to do a better job to fight the spread of vaccine misinformation on its sites. Biden was hoping to have 70% of American adults at least half-vaccinated by Fourth of July, but the U.S. failed to meet his administration's goal. 

The president softened his criticism of Facebook, days after he stirred controversy and said the world's largest social network is “killing people” because of vaccine misinformation the tech giant allows to circulate on its platform.

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"Facebook isn’t killing people," Biden said in response to a reporter's question on Monday. "These 12 people who are out there giving misinformation – anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it."

In March, Twitter said it was taking a tougher stance on pandemic misinformation for repeated violations of its policy, including a 12-hour suspension. This included a brief suspension of Greene's account but Twitter later said that it was a mistake due to an automated error.

Twitter said since introducing its COVID-19 guidance last year, the platform has "challenged 11.7 million accounts, suspended 1,496 accounts, and removed more than 43,010 pieces of content worldwide."